ODT reporters talked to every Southern recipient of a 2025 New Year honour.
Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM)
Invercargill
Services to music and the community
Dunedin
For services to oral health
Oral health researcher and campaigner Emeritus Prof Murray Thomson has never been short of accolades throughout his career, but the announcement that he was listed as a Companion to the New Zealand Order of Merit surprised even him.
"The funny thing was, we were on holiday in Tasmania and I got this email and I thought at first it was a hoax.
"Nobody gets to the point where they get this sort of honour without the help of a lot of people.
"It’s an acknowledgement of the people I’ve worked with as much as it is my work."
Prof Thomson has worked in the oral health field for more than 40 years, and was the first New Zealander to win two awards from the International Association for Dental Research.
He led the dental component of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study from 1998 to 2015, while he has written more than 500 peer-reviewed journal articles.
"It’s the only study that has enabled us to figure out what’s going on with people as they age ... from an oral health point of view.
"The study has helped address some inequities in the health system."
Much of his research had also been looking at the benefits treating a child’s oral health had on the wider family unit — a notion that was initially discarded.
"I have always been interested in the need for oral health and hygiene."
While Prof Thomson trained and practised as a dentist, he was always more drawn to the public health and epidemiology side of work.
"[It] appealed as a way to try to make a difference to people’s lives where it wasn’t just one practitioner trying to do whatever he or she could for the person in their dental chair at the time.
"It was working at a population level to try to change things in the background."
He was retired "only in the academic sense of the word", as he was still researching and producing journal articles.
Teaching public health and dental epidemiology at the University of Otago for more than 30 years had also been an "immensely satisfying" experience, he said.
"I loved watching young people come in and develop ... They’re making a powerful difference."
He was concerned about some of the broader trends in public health.
"There’s going to be all sorts of stresses on public health measures like vaccination and community water quality, and inevitably those are going to ripple around the world.
"So there’s going to be pressure from people who invent their own science who are going to want us to go back to the dark ages.
"It’s happening here now with the current government loosening up on smoking, for example."
However, he remained optimistic about the future of research.
"I think the health professionals have a healthy sense of mission and they certainly won’t take things lying down — the same goes for the public.
"We’re not easily fooled despite some appearances of the contrary ... I think we just have to ride out this particular dark period and things should improve, hopefully."
Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM)
Queenstown
For services to the food and rural industries
Queenstown's Royalburn Station owners Carlos Bagrie and Nadia Lim are accepting their New Year Honours on behalf of the food producers and farmers across New Zealand.
The power couple, both 39, also founded My Food Bag, starred in three seasons of Nadia’s Farm, and have recently bought into McKibbon’s of Royalburn — formerly Raeward Fresh.
Mr Bagrie, a fifth-generation farmer, this year received the 2024 Nuffield New Zealand Farming Scholarship, and also launched a collaboration with Garage Project to develop "Swifty", a beer made from surplus barley being sold nationwide.
Ms Lim, the 2011 winner of MasterChef New Zealand, has published 12 cookbooks, including Nadia’s Comfort Kitchen, which raised more than $400,000 for Youthline and Women’s Refuge during Covid, has been a MasterChef New Zealand and My Kitchen Rules New Zealand judge, and partnered with several notable New Zealand charities.
Mr Bagrie said notification of their New Year Honours came as "a huge surprise".
"For me, there are two things that make it really special. The first one is that I’m sharing it with Nadia ... the second thing that makes it incredibly special for me is that it represents the farming community well.
"I think that’s key right now.
"And my parents — I can’t wait for mum and dad to see it in the paper."
Ms Lim said she was "blown away, and very grateful and humbled" by whoever it was who nominated them.
"I feel like we’re not so much receiving it for us, but more on behalf of the sector.
"Generally, we’re just stoked that there is a bit of spotlight being shone on the food and fibre and farming sectors."
The couple have kept their honours a secret — the first notification their families will have is today.
"That’s going to be the fun thing, I think, for us is our parents ... I imagine they’ll be a little bit proud," Mr Bagrie said.
While they have called Royalburn, on the Crown Terrace, home for five and a-half years, the brand itself is only three years old.
The couple, parents to Bohdi, 8, River, 6, and Arlo, who turns 2 in February, own about 485ha of land, and manage an additional 120ha.
At Royalburn, they are creating a circular economy, where their lambs rotate between crops and cover crops, which are used to feed their thousands of free-range chickens.
The eggs are sold across the Queenstown Lakes district, and the chicken manure is utilised across the fields.
Hot compost is used for tree planting, while they also have a market garden, and an on-site abattoir and butchery.
Through the Nuffield Scholarship, Mr Bagrie spent about six months this year overseas, researching, in part, the future of food production.
New Zealand faced headwinds playing in the commodity market, which would come from countries with economies of scale "that we just cannot comprehend", and proximity to market, he said.
"New Zealand’s opportunity, I believe, with food and agritourism exists in the higher premium ends of the market.
"There are definitely signs that we can do that and it’s just ... shortening that value chain on the global scale, or what can New Zealand do to maximise profits back to the farmer?"
As a country, New Zealand was "inherently good" with production and finding efficiencies in it, but he believed there was work to do in the "last link in the value chain", and finding ways to add value to the product.
The couple also believed there was a huge, untapped agritourism opportunity here.
"I don’t think there’s any other country in the world which would be better placed to grasp that opportunity," Ms Lim said.
Invercargill
For services to farming and governance
For more than 40 years Robin Campbell has served as a justice of the peace while at the same time offering his farming and governance skills to the wider Southland community and farming industry.
But for Mr Campbell, what he did started at home on his own small farm where he believed he had to maintain a highly productive farm where he practised what he preached to maintain his credibility.
He also believed nothing he did came without the support of his wife Lynley.
"If somebody accepted the responsibility that I had, then obviously there was somebody else at home doing some heavy lifting."
He was voted Agriculture Communicator of the Year in 2000.
As founding director and sometimes chairman of multiple agencies, including the New Zealand Sheep Council, Sheep Research Foundation, Sheep Improvement Ltd and Ovita, he promoted funding for pioneering farm genetics research and genomic technologies.
The research led to New Zealand lambs becoming heavier, ewes producing more lambs and increased wool production.
Sheep numbers had declined, but they would always be part of the nation.
"Sheep remains really the only way that we can harvest the biomass of our harder country and convert that into food for people ... they control a whole lot of weeds, like wilding pines."
In addition to his rural interests his governance experience was also applied when he served as Presbyterian Support Southland chairman for nine years and as the PSS national chairman where he earned the Extra Mile Award for his contributions.
Other organisations to benefit from his governance skills include Venture Southland, Presbyterian Retirement Villages Ltd, Waituna Partners wetland restoration project, and the Community Trust of Southland.
Motueka
For services to veterinary medicine and the equine industry
While it has been many decades since he lived in North Otago, Waitaki Boys’ High School-educated veterinary scholar and practitioner Wayne McIlwraith, who partially learned his veterinary trade on the chain at the Pukeuri meat plant, retains fond memories of the district.
He has lived in the United States for the past 45 years, but still recalls affectionately the many school holidays he spent on the Hakataramea Valley property of his maternal aunt Mona Fraser and her husband Bill at Mt Menzies where he was taught to ride horses.
"It got me interested in the veterinary side ... I loved being out with the animals," he said last week.
Prof McIlwraith worked as a vet student on the chain at Pukeuri for several years, where he "started my surgical skills".
A long-standing visiting fellow and adjunct professor at the Massey University Veterinary School, he continues to be involved in the New Zealand equine industry.
From this year he was intending to spend at least three months a year living at a new home near Kaiteriteri.
In retrospect, Prof McIlwraith said he might not have been able achieve what he had that if he had stayed in this country.
"It’s been a great career in the States."
Born in Oamaru in 1947, Cyril Wayne McIlwraith was the oldest of five born children to Cyril and Kathleen McIlwraith.
After Waitaki Boys’ High he did a pre-veterinary year at the University of Otago then went to Massey University where he graduated with a degree in veterinary science in 1971.
He initially worked as a rural vet at Darfield.
A large animal surgery internship at the University of Guelph in Canada got him hooked and since 1979 he has conducted internationally recognised leading research on both human and equine joint disease, writing many textbooks, papers and chapters as well as delivering more than 700 presentations, seminars and workshops internationally.
He has received numerous awards, including being inducted into the International Equine Research Hall of Fame, and has received five honorary doctorates from international universities.
He is also a life member of the New Zealand Equine Veterinary Association.
Wānaka
For services to people with intellectual disabilities and the community
Anthony Shaw has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to people with intellectual disabilities.
Mr Shaw, now residing in Wānaka, has been working with the IHC for over 40 years, first as a lawyer with the support of Timpany Walton, the law firm he was working with.
Mr Shaw continued to work as a lawyer when he joined the board, and has been chairman since 2019.
He spoke very proudly and passionately of the work that he has been a part of with the IHC.
The IHC has been advocating for and assisting people with intellectual disabilities for decades, with many dedicated people across the country helping provide housing and personal care.
Working with this community was not something that Mr Shaw had initially considered in his early days as a young lawyer from Christchurch, but once he started, he could not stop.
Mr Shaw labelled himself as an "outsider" when he first began his journey on the local committee for the IHC, being one of very few people on the team who did not have a child with an intellectual disability.
"I was seen as an outsider in that sense, but I was repeatedly told I was adding value because I was an independent voice."
During Mr Shaw’s time, the IHC has become one of the largest accommodation providers for people with intellectual disabilities, generating a property portfolio now worth $1.8 billion.
Mr Shaw also recalled in the early 2000s, the IHC’s involvement in pressuring the government to close abusive institutions down.
"We are helping out these people who are some of the most vulnerable people in our community."
He credited the progress made by the IHC to the remarkable staff and board members he has worked with.
Dunedin
For services to physiotherapy
Becoming an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit has given Margot Skinner a chance to reflect on a rewarding career in physiotherapy.
"My profession has been my life. I just did what I could for the profession and still continue to do what I can."
Dr Skinner was one of a small group instrumental in physiotherapy gaining university status at Otago University in 1996 and has held several roles within the School of Physiotherapy, including as deputy dean.
She was proud to say physiotherapy was a significant contributor to the university.
"It’s the right place to be."
In 2013, she received an honorary fellowship from Physiotherapy New Zealand and in 2023, she was awarded the Mildred Elson Award — World Physiotherapy’s highest honour.
However, accolades were never what she set out to achieve.
"When you’re contributing, if you do reflect, you realise that you’ve learned a lot from other people and they’re so grateful for those opportunities that you’ve given them.
"So that’s a wonderful reward in itself."
Her work supporting physiotherapy in developing countries was a particular highlight.
Dr Skinner held leadership roles with the New Zealand Society of Physiotherapists and served on the Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand.
She helped World Physiotherapy establish entry-level physiotherapy education in Asian countries and was the inaugural chairwoman of the accreditation committee until 2019.
Dr Skinner has made further significant community contributions including support for Otago University students and as chairwoman of the Columba College board of trustees.
Mosgiel
For services to health
Murray Tilyard considers himself old fashioned.
Ask the right questions, get a good sense of their history, listen to the patient and then you do your examination — that was the way he preached and practised.
Emeritus Prof Tilyard was taught by a cohort of practitioners to practise that way and has always done so.
He has contributed to the health industry for more than 40 years and described his New Year’s honour as a "positive surprise", he said.
"I hope it reflects the esteem that general practice has held."
He has been a leader in the discipline of general practice and produced research findings across a range of GP-relevant topics.
He established the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners research unit in 1981 and was a director until 1993.
"I’ve been privileged not only to have worked in the university, but also in 1994, a year after I was made professor of general practice, I got a health research grant."
The grant was for $45,000 and that led to the establishment of the South Link Education Trust in 2003.
A year before that, he embarked on a 10-year "journey" to create the first publication of the New Zealand Formulary (NZF).
Taking trips to read the British National Formulary to see every monograph, studying every sentence, and tracking down a politician because he was instrumental to get base funding were just snippets of those years.
The first NZF was published in July 2012.
"It’s something I’m immensely proud of."
He was the chief executive and clinical adviser for the NZF from 2011 to 2022 and remained chairman and chief clinical adviser to the resource.
"It keeps me busy.
"The New Zealand Formulary is now respected as the jewel in the crown of the New Zealand health service."
He would do it all again given the chance, he said.
Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM)
Auckland
For services to cardiology
Dr Malcolm Legget was a humble person who never sought accolades.
Yet, in the days before his death, on November 1, he learned of and accepted his New Year Honour, his wife Carrie Hobson said.
He insisted the recognition be for Neuroendocrine Cancer New Zealand and the team around him, Ms Hobson said.
"One of his favourite sayings was, ‘It’s amazing what you can achieve if you don’t mind who gets the bouquet’.
"He was a real leader, and he sort of always made everybody else feel like they were the ones that had done it all, even though he’d often sow the seed, but he’d always step back."
Still, the recognition meant a lot, Ms Hobson said.
"He was very humbled by the whole thing and completely overwhelmed."
Dr Legget was born in England and moved to Auckland when he was 14. Then, as a 17-year-old, he moved to Dunedin to attend the University of Otago and study medicine. He graduated in 1986 and spent the next decade in the city, working at Dunedin Hospital.
The city was a special place for him and he was enormously proud of the fact his daughter Emelia studied medicine at Otago as well — she graduated several weeks ago, Ms Hobson said.
Dr Legget was recognised for his significant contribution to cardiology and cancer treatment and research, ensuring access to world-leading treatments is available through New Zealand’s public health system. He was the director of echocardiology at Greenlane Hospital between 1995 and 2000 and co-founded the private cardiology group The Heart Group in 1997.
The group’s model of care has resulted in novel procedures and access to services that might otherwise not have been available, ultimately saving many lives.
His contributions to the emerging areas of 3-D imaging and cardiac CT angiography led to these tools being widely used in New Zealand.
He was a board member of the Heart Foundation since 2016 and helped to raise funds for the establishment of the Heart Health Research Trust.
After his diagnosis with neuroendocrine cancer in 2011, he became a leader in ensuring the best treatments possible were available to all New Zealanders.
He led a programme of work and fundraised more than $7million to bring clinical expertise, a research programme, scans and treatment that were not available in New Zealand into the public health system, resulting in patients no longer needing to travel overseas to receive care.
Dr Legget was a fellow of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.
His Majesty’s approval of this honour took effect on October 31, prior to the date of his death.
Dunedin
For services to neuroscience
Louise Parr-Brownlie always "just did her work" and never expected a thank-you.
"It’s the kind of thing I would never imagine would happen ... You do your work and try and make a difference. It’s an absolute delight to be honoured, but it’s not something you ever expect."
Dr Parr-Brownlie is a neuroscientist and professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Otago and specialises in Parkinson’s disease research.
Her published work is widely cited globally and she has been invited to speak at many international conferences, including at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Gordon Research.
"I look at how the activity in the brain changes in Parkinson’s disease, and we want to know that so that we can look at new ways of treating it, try and improve symptoms," she said.
Dr Parr-Brownlie has been both deputy director and director of the Ageing Well National Science Challenge, helping transform it into the first Te Tiriti o Waitangi-led Challenge.
She has been on the biomedical research committee of the Health Research Council of New Zealand since 2021.
She holds multiple leadership roles and has chaired Rauika Māngai (Māori Leaders across the National Science Challenges).
She was also deputy chairwoman of the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand’s science advisory committee and has been a science adviser for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment since 2023.
Dr Parr-Brownlie said she would be celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary this week, and would turn the festivities into a joint celebration with her family and friends.
Invercargill
For services to choral music
Working with music and people has been a heavenly match for Southlander Sarah Rae for the past 33 years.
"It allows me to work with such an amazing assortment of people from all walks of life and talents.
"Honestly, it’s the people that bring you back."
Singing in the St John’s Primary School choir ignited her love for music.
Since 1996, the musical director has each year prepared more than 700 students from 20 schools for the annual three-night "Sing Out" festival.
From 2006, as Southland Girls High School’s head of performing arts, countless volunteer hours have been invested in directing the school’s Femme choir — one of the nation’s top 20 secondary school choirs.
Implementing workshops with national and international mentors, community performance opportunities were part of the picture.
Her reputation earned her the directorship of the Southland Youth Choir from 1995 to 2004.
In 1995 she established The Ensemble, alongside her director’s role with the Foveaux Harmony Chorus — a two-way relationship where she also learned from others.
"It’s really grown me as a musician and how you work with people and the skills you learn. I feel very fortunate.
"You get such a buzz from what you can accomplish with guiding other people."
Development roles included co-ordinating the ILT scholarship for female singers aged 13-25 as well as coach and educator with Young Women in Harmony — a national initiative providing musical education for women under 25.
Ranfurly
For services to governance
DIRECTOR and farmer Dawn Sangster said when she first found out about her recognition in the New Year Honours she was surprised and emotional.
"I felt really honoured," Mrs Sangster, who has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, said.
She had helped with other honours nominations herself and was aware of the large amount of work throughout the nomination process.
She described being nominated and recognised as "monumental".
Mrs Sangster started her career in governance as a trustee for the Maniototo Area School board of trustees.
In 2009, she was appointed to the Maniototo Community Trust and became the board’s first chairwoman in 2015.
She was a part of the inaugural Agri-Women’s Escalator programme, helping providing governance training to women.
In 2011, she was the third woman to be elected to the Alliance Group board of directors, on which she served until 2023, and inspired and supported other women to step into governance.
She is a director of the Farmlands Co-operative Society, Maniototo Irrigation Co and a chartered fellow of the Institute of Directors.
She is also a director in her family farming business GlenAyr and Nottingham Dairy.
Mrs Sangster said she would like to acknowledge the local community who had supported her. Having nominated people for honours before she knew she needed high levels of support from the local community.
"I feel the support of the community," she said.
Winton
For services to conservation and game hunting
ROY Sloan believes when awards are given out they are usually based on achievements from a group of people.
"I guess my award should be for having the ability to keep good people around me to make these things work."
He has been involved with the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation (FWF) since 2005.
He was president (2012-22) and is currently general manager.
Mr Sloan has worked to preserve and maintain the Fiordland wapiti deer as a high-quality, low-quantity hunting resource while preserving Fiordland’s native flora and fauna.
Working alongside the Department of Conservation, he helped to establish a world-class management system for the herd.
The deer management focused on removing 18,000 red deer and hybrids from the 175,000ha area while preserving native flora and fauna.
"Other parts of the world talk about our project in Fiordland as being probably the leading project of its kind the the world.
"It’s quite an achievement for the team. They’re a good team of people and we are pretty proud of what we’ve pulled off."
Wapiti were released into the ranges 120 years ago and its management produced a low number of quality trophy wapiti while protecting native species.
The FWF has been instrumental in preserving the whio and other native birds through this programme.
"The trick is keeping the national park in such a good state that we can have our cake and eat it too."
A FWF and WithWild partnership provided venison to New Zealand restaurants and an additional 18tonnes of Wapiti venison was supplied to foodbanks during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Winton
For services to charitable fundraising and the community
Melissa Vining (Ngai Tahu) says she is inspired by the "heroes" in the medical profession: "the doctors, the nurses, the healthcare workers".
"They just continually work harder and harder for their patients," she said.
"And also those great patients that have spoken out when they’re really, really sick to try and get help for others."
Mrs Vining has been recognised for her role in the establishment and construction of the Southern Charity Hospital, in Invercargill.
And yet, she said it took a couple of days before she decided to accept her New Year Honour.
"Because, obviously, it was our community’s achievement, not just mine."
The community in Otago and Southland had been incredible and many volunteers had worked so hard to get the hospital finished, Mrs Vining said.
"I feel like it’s for all of them, and recognising all of their work."
Mrs Vining established the Southern Charity Hospital Trust in 2019, with the aim of constructing a charity hospital to provide colonoscopies, day surgeries and dentistry services, following her late husband’s cancer diagnosis and experiences with treatment delays.
She has been a driving force behind the project, raising awareness for the hospital and co-ordinating support from various sources.
She used her late husband Blair’s rugby connections to drive fundraising efforts, which included a game with the All Blacks, "Buy a Brick" and dinner events. She obtained support from the Invercargill Licensing Trust, which gave the land and building for the hospital.
She has co-ordinated a range of specialists and nurses to donate their services.
Construction began on the project in 2021 and the hospital was completed in April this year.
The Southern Charity Hospital is modelled on the Canterbury Charity Hospital and initially is providing colonoscopies to patients from the Southern health zone.
Mrs Vining has been a trustee on the Southern Charity Hospital board since its inception.
King’s Service Order (KSO)
Papakura
For services to disabled people
Formative experiences in the Oamaru upbringing of Barry de Geest drove him to be a voice for others.
Mr de Geest, the oldest thalidomide survivor in New Zealand, was "shocked" to learn he had been named a Companion of the King’s Service Order for his 40 years of advocacy.
But he took it as recognition of the many disabled advocates he had worked with along the way.
Thalidomide — a drug introduced in the 1950s to treat morning sickness — was taken just twice by his mother, Anne, early in her pregnancy.
When Mr de Geest was born at the old Oamaru Hospital in 1960 with no arms and short legs there was immediate pressure to banish him into institutional care.
"Mum was told to send me up to the Sisters of Mercy and ‘go away and have another baby’."
His mother did not bow down: she took her son home and "tried her hardest" to ensure he had as normal a life as possible.
"Mum really was the stalwart."
Mr de Geest said seminal events in his Oamaru upbringing helped spur an urge to work for others.
At 14, he was embraced by the Oamaru Rowing Club as a cockswain.
It helped him "discover another world" and as a pivotal team member over four years there were no excuses for his physical capacity.
"I was a bit short but fitted in the boat perfectly," he said.
"A lot of disabled people are treated differently from able-bodied kids. Their whole world revolves around the disability, whereas in the rowing context, everybody treated you like everyone else. It made me realise there was more to life than me."
A destiny dawned on Mr de Geest one day as he pondered life while at St Kevin’s College.
"I thought, ‘I can speak — I have a voice and can make use of that voice for others’."
Mr de Geest left North Otago when he was 20 and has lived in the North Island since.
He co-founded the Renaissance Group in 2001 — now one of the largest supported independent living providers in New Zealand.
He has chaired needs assessment and co-ordination service Kaikaranga Holdings since 2019 and has been the co-chairman of Auckland Council’s disability advisory panel since 2023 and a member of the transformation management board of the newly established Ministry of Disabled People. He has also been the disability adviser to the Health Advisory Committee Secretariat and Ministry of Health, chief executive of the Manawatū CCS Disability Action branch and the Wellington Disability Resource Centre; and former chairman of the New Zealand Powerchair Football Association.
King’s Service Medal (KSM)
Invercargill
For services to the performing arts, particularly musical theatre
Michael Buick says he has never really thought about the positive impact he has on others.
The Invercargill thespian, singer, teacher, mentor, musician and graphic designer said he was "absolutely gobsmacked" upon learning he would receive the King’s Service Medal.
He had always enjoyed his career and helping others had felt "par for the course".
"It’s a lovely recognition of all of the time and work that people have put into me along the way and the trust that they’ve had in me to do a lot of the things that I’ve done.
"In some ways, it feels like maybe that investment from other people has paid off."
Mr Buick has contributed to the southern creative scene since the early 1990s, particularly through Invercargill Musical Theatre (IMT) and the Invercargill Repertory Society.
He has largely volunteered his time as a musical director, performer or musician in many IMT productions, and received Otago Southland Theatre Awards for best musical direction in 2015 and 2020.
His contributions have helped to ensure the success of IMT’s productions and its reputation in the region.
In his teaching career in Invercargill, he has been directly influential in the development of many emerging musicians and actors in Invercargill since 2000.
At New River Primary School, he developed a music programme that could be taught school-wide, empowering all teachers in a music-enrichment programme.
In the late 2000s, he was convener of the ILT Sing Out festival, a massed choir event for Southland primary schools, and helped to bring in a major sponsor to ensure the festival’s continued survival.
Mr Buick was made a life member of Invercargill Musical Theatre in late 2022.
Invercargill
For services to survivors of abuse in care
Having a chuckle at being honoured by a King whose agencies of the system he has fought all his life against was abuse survivor Toni Jarvis’ (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngā Puhi) initial reaction when he heard that he had received a King’s Service Medal.
"It’s quite ironic that King Charles is acknowledging me.
"I’ve been fighting all my life the very agencies of his system."
The 64-year-old stressed that the battle was always bigger than himself and that he was not alone in carrying the weight of the kaupapa.
"It wasn’t just me. I want to acknowledge my morehu [survivors of state care] whānau, brothers and sisters, survivors.
"They dedicated their time and their lives to the cause."
Mr Jarvis has engaged with Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Social Development and other agencies to bring awareness to issues relating to abuse in care and has used his experience to make submissions to agencies.
Drawing on his personal experience at Cherry Farm, Hokio Beach School and Holdsworth Boys Home, Mr Jarvis has provided evidence to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions.
He has been contributing to the Crown Response Unit and involved in other aspects of the inquiry’s work.
Mr Jarvis has advocated to ensure the response to the inquiry accounts for the concerns and interests of all survivors, including survivors of abuse experienced in psychiatric hospitals.
"I hope for a better system, that protects our children.
"I prayed that we would move from the dark into the light. There’s still work to do."
Mosgiel
For services to the community
Pat Macaulay likes to look after "Mr and Mrs Farmer" and her membership with Rural Women New Zealand has stretched to 50 years.
She helped to raise $25,000 with the organisation’s Triple F challenges of fun, fitness and friendship.
Mrs Macaulay has been a member of the Otago Rural Support Trust since 1997 and was asked to become co-ordinator in 2015 during a bad drought in Strath Taieri.
In a 2019 interview with Allied Press, Mrs Macaulay said she got satisfaction from helping farming families during stressful times.
"I enjoy sitting down with Mr and Mrs Farmer and chewing the fat to see if I can help them get through the situation and make some decisions," she said.
Mrs Macaulay was originally from a farming family in West Otago.
She and husband Keith had a sheep and beef farm on the Strath Taieri and later ended up in Mosgiel.
Her citation for her King’s Service Medal said she served as Rural Women’s regional development officer between 2003 and 2010, contributing to increased membership in Otago.
"She has helped rural communities by providing support for mental health, overcoming distance and isolation by fostering connection amongst rural residents."
She had also been involved in organisations such as Plunket, Playcentre, the parent-teacher association and Scouts groups.
Mataura
For services to Fire and Emergency New Zealand and ice sports
More than half a century of volunteer work to help his community has led to Gore district councillor Neville Phillips receiving the King’s Service Medal, which he says is truly humbling.
Mr Phillips has been a very busy man, his volunteer work including serving in the Mataura Fire Brigade, where he is a life member and held several offices.
He is a foundation member of the Gore District Ice Skating Club, now named Ice Sports Southland.
He also serves as an elected official for the Gore district as both a councillor, and on the Mataura Community Board.
Mr Phillips does not like to toot his own horn, and said the award was a reflection of the community around him.
"I’m very humbled by the nomination.
"It’s the old adage, you can’t do it by yourself.
"It’s a group effort," he said.
Mr Phillips said in the fire service especially, being part of a solid group was everything.
"I’ve always had good people beside me, people who listen in when we train them.
"When we went in to fight fires or rescue people I knew I could have support by the people on either side of me."
Mr Phillips said, for his family, it was about giving back and paying it forward.
"[Volunteerism] was instilled in me by my parents and grandparents.
"My cousins, between us, we had over 350 hours between St John and the fire service.
"My sister has 50 years with St John in our district, and my brother has volunteered to do all the work for the ice hockey when he was young," he said.
"If you ... go and help out a child who fell over, what does that do?
"Not only does it show support, but it also shows to that child that one day, they might be able to do that same thing," he said.
Alexandra
For services to the community
For nearly 40 years there have been few community events Dave Ramsay hasn’t been involved in, often as MC bringing humour and laughter to the room.
Being recognised for his service was "quite a surprise", Mr Ramsay said.
"It was a bolt out of the blue but I really appreciate it."
He joined the Alexandra Jaycees service club in 1985 when he moved from Invercargill.
"It was my introduction to Alexandra. I went along and never looked back."
In his 10 years with the club he has convened at least 20 community and chapter projects including events for the Alexandra Blossom Festival and the Central Otago Nissan Young Driver contest.
In 1988 he served as president and in 1992 was Otago-Southland regional governor.
Jaycees merged with the Alexandra Lions Club in 1995 and Mr Ramsay was Lions president in 2001-02.
Through his involvement with Jaycees and Lions, he has contributed to raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for community causes, including Friends of Dunstan Hospital, the Alexandra Volunteer Fire Brigade, St John and the Otago Rescue Helicopter Trust.
One of his major commitments was the Central Otago Great Easter Bunny Hunt, which in 20 years raised more than $250,000 for community causes.
He organised catering for the Otago Goldfields Cavalcade horse trek and other community events. A member of the Terrace School board of trustees from 1995 to 2001, he was chairman for two years.
Since 2011 Mr Ramsay has volunteered as a funeral celebrant.
His community work was recognised in 2011 when he received a Central Otago District Council community service award.
Dunedin
For services to sport, particularly athletics and cricket
Chances are you have seen David Richmond down at the Caledonian armed with a clipboard.
He has done just about every job going when it comes to athletics.
Mr Richmond’s work has been recognised with a King’s Service Medal for services to sport, particularly athletics and cricket.
Cricket is his second love. He has been the honorary statistician for the Otago Cricket Association for more than 30 years.
But athletics took hold of his soul once he started running in the early 1960s and it has been a burning passion ever since.
Mr Richmond, 78, has been involved with athletics at local, regional and national levels for more than 50 years.
He first volunteered for the Presbyterian Harrier and Athletics Club committee from 1967 to 1971.
In 1981, he was on the steering committee which merged the club with two others, forming the Hill City Athletics Club (now Hill City-University).
He served as the club captain and was president from 1991 to 1993, and patron since 2008.
He has been involved with Athletics Otago since 1981, serving as a handicapper, selector and as president from 1991 to 1994 and 2012 to 2016.
He represented Otago as an Athletics New Zealand councillor from 1991 to 1994 and served on the organisation’s board of directors from 1994 to 1999.
In 1992, he lobbied for Dunedin to host the National Road Relay Championship, chairing the organising committee.
He organised the 2004 Secondary Schools National Cross-Country in Dunedin, and coached at Tokomairiro High School from 1976 and Bayfield High School from 1986.
Mr Richmond is a life member of Athletics Otago and Hill City-University Athletics Club.
But despite everything he has done for sport, he was shocked to receive an honour.
"Oh, surprised; I’m very surprised. I looked at the email; I thought, ‘who the hell, what’s this, honours?"’ he said.
"So I clicked it open and the first thing I thought was, ‘how?"’.
The answer to that is clear: through a lifetime of service.
Queenstown
For Services to conservation and the community.
Barb Simpson is proud she has not let ageing stop her from doing what she is passionate about — giving back and caring for the environment.
She has been awarded a King’s Service Medal for services to conservation and the community.
Mrs Simpson taught outdoor education and food technology at Wakatipu High School for 23 years until retiring in 2006 — however, she hasn’t exactly stopped working.
Mrs Simpson’s highlights at the high school were getting young people involved in outdoor education and the annual school camps to Branches Station, getting students involved in the establishment and maintenance of wetland areas.
December marked Mrs Simpson’s 40th year volunteering at the camp.
"Involving young people out in the outdoors is wonderful.
"I don’t think you truly value the environment unless you are in it."
Mrs Simpson and her husband Neil founded the Whakatipu Reforestation Trust in 2013, which has helped grow more than 120,000 native shrubs over the past 10 years.
The number of volunteers who turn up to community planting days still blows her away. The work is rewarding and she knows it will have a lasting impact in the Wakatipu basin.
"I’ve started hearing about places welcoming tūī back, predator work completed and natives growing, and seeing the big picture all coming to life is amazing."
Additionally, Mrs Simpson has volunteered as a hut warden, to remove invasive weed from around Ōkārito Lagoon, and has been a trustee of the Wakatipu Trails Trust and a volunteer and manager with the Queenstown Lakes Search and Rescue. She has also been a Big Buddy, volunteered with Victim Support for 18 years and continues to volunteer with the St John shuttle service.
"Things happen to people and you just help — it’s just doing your little bit to help bolster up the community."
Rangiora
For services to survivors of abuse in care
Learning he would be awarded a King’s Service Medal nearly brought him to tears, Darryl Smith says.
"When I first read it, I was just about choking back the tears, because I’ve had a hard life, you see."
The historical abuse survivor and former Dunedin resident said it had been an honour to represent New Zealand overseas, and the award showed that his peers and people he had helped over the past two decades respected both him and his work.
Mr Smith has campaigned for decades against the abuse the Catholic Church and state care, raising awareness on the forms of abuse and educational neglect faced by children.
He provided evidence to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions on the physical and spiritual abuse he faced at Marylands School, in Christchurch, and from witnessing the racial abuse suffered by Māori and Pacific children at the school.
He also provided evidence to the Australian government’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, concluding in 2017.
In 2023, Mr Smith attended the Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) summit in Rome, an organisation of survivors and human rights activists from more than 25 countries campaigning to end clergy abuse and bring justice to survivors and their families, and was made a full ECA member this year.
He has served as the New Zealand ambassador to the United States-based National Association of Adult Survivors of Child Abuse and has self-published books on his experiences in state care and faith-based institutions.
Invercargill
For services to the community
Peter Swain did not have the first clue a King’s Service Medal was coming his way.
"To be quite honest, I didn’t know anything about it."
Mr Swain played an integral role in establishing and maintaining the Foodbank Charitable Trust as a valuable non-profit community asset and has volunteered with the Southland Food Bank since 1991.
"It’s really just one of those jobs that has to be done. So you get on and do it, don’t you?"
While he was beginning to pull back from some duties due to his age — "well into the 80s" — he had thoroughly enjoyed his work over the years.
"Of course, you always meet the odd ratbag, but you put the ratbags aside, and most of the people in Invercargill are very, very good.
"I’ve always had the support of my loving wife, Olive, and the family, of course, and my previous employers at the freezing works."
When the foodbank was established, the founding trustees thought it would become unnecessary within two years.
"But unfortunately, about 30-plus years later, we’re still going strong — and the demand is increasing."
He was elected as chairman of the Southland Foodbank Charitable Trust in 2007, and remains a trustee and volunteer at the foodbank.
Mr Swain was made a life member of the Otago-Southland branch of the Meat Workers Union in 2007, having been union secretary for 27 years until retirement.
As secretary, he set up a foodbank for workers during a 13-week strike.
New Zealand Antarctic Medal (NZAM)
Glenorchy
For services to Antarctic heritage conservation
Al Fastier lives by the motto "the more remote you are, the more interesting the people are".
This has led Mr Fastier on 31 expeditions across Antarctica, over 2000 days on ice.
He has been awarded the New Zealand Antarctic Medal for services to Antarctic heritage conservation.
Mr Fastier said receiving the medal was very special to him, as many of his heroes such as Ernest Shackleton and Robert Falcon Scott had been awarded the British equivalent.
However, he said it should be a team award and the honour belonged to everybody involved in making the conservation work a success.
Since 2006, Mr Fastier has overseen the Antarctic Heritage Trust’s implementation of the Ross Sea Heritage Restoration Project, an international project to secure historic explorer bases and their artefacts.
His leadership on the project enabled the trust to restore four historic bases, including Shackleton’s hut.
In the process, his team managed to restore over 20,000 historic artefacts — including century-old whisky.
"Knowing the huts will be structurally sound and weather-tight for future generations to learn about the explorers’ stories is pretty rewarding."
He has mentored over 80 heritage experts, which helped position New Zealand as a leader in cold-climate heritage conservation.
"Doing the unpleasant jobs and working long hours, other team members are likely to follow. And typically they’re just as passionate and as keen as I am — so it’s sort of like an upward positive spiral, inspiring each other."
Although 2024 marked Mr Fastier’s retirement, in January, he will lead an Inspiring Explorers programme to the Ross Sea.
"Every summer I am like a bird. I get the urge to migrate down south."
